Mendocino Coast,CA
North of Ft. Bragg about 27 miles the lost coast begins. THis view is from the road leading to the USAL camp ground below.
Photo/John O'Hara

Mendocino Coast,CA
North of Ft. Bragg about 27 miles the lost coast begins. THis view is from the road leading to the USAL camp ground below.
Photo/John O'Hara

Photo: John O'Hara

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Mendocino Coast, CA.
Usal state park. This beautiful and isolated park has a lagoon from the creek out flow to the ocean, and long beaches. Two people quietly walk alone on this big long beach in the afternoon.
Photo/John O'Hara less

Mendocino Coast, CA.
Usal state park. This beautiful and isolated park has a lagoon from the creek out flow to the ocean, and long beaches. Two people quietly walk alone on this big long beach in the ... more

Photo: John O'Hara

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Sinkyone Wilderness State Park. Chronicle Graphic

Sinkyone Wilderness State Park. Chronicle Graphic

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Way off the beaton track / Lost Coast road offers rugged fun

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2002-06-27 04:00:00 PDT Whitethorn, Humboldt Co. -- The Lost Coast is in danger of becoming the Found Coast. But, not in grave danger. The most serious risks it faced have passed.

This rural reach between Fort Bragg and Petrolia was once heavily logged, then slated for Sea Ranch-style developments at Needle Rock and Shelter Cove.

But many logged acres are now set aside for restoration. Conservation movements have stymied the development. As forests regrow, as streams heal, this area seems aimed at a future as a coast preserve and recreational mecca.

Visitors can choose between: driving narrow, paved lanes that seem as if they were scribbled on maps by earthworms dipped in ink; walking trails that test any hiker's love of rugged ways; or daring entry via dirt tracks that munch up a car for lunch.

The Usal Road (Mendocino Co. Route 431) offers an example of that latter option. Its south end is found 13 miles north of Westport on Highway 1, or 14. 7 miles west of Leggett, marked by a green-and-white '431' sign.

The first 5.8 miles one drives on it, heading north to Usal Beach Camp, provide a warning. This part is tight, steep and winding, with few places to pass and even fewer spots to back up or turn around. Some passenger cars can make this portion, but small SUVs or 4WD rigs are better. As for hulking SUVs like Cadillac Escalade or Lincoln Navigator - forget the ads. Such monsters are more suited to dragging boats down freeways than travel in the woods.

Usal Beach is a state parks-run primitive camp (first-come, first-served) with pit-privies and fire rings. Water must be drawn from the creek, and be boiled or treated before use. But you also score a sprawling sanctuary touched only by sounds of surf, sigh of wind and plaint of ravens.

At least, you find that on weekdays. On weekends, hard-partying locals can turn it into a modern facsimile of the old Wild West.

A hundred yards past the Usal Creek bridge lies a trailhead for the 16.7- mile, Lost Coast Trail up to Bear Harbor, a path dotted by trailside camps. This hike in the Sinkyone Wilderness provides fantastic views. But its sentries are deer ticks bearing Lyme disease. Hikers should tuck long pants into socks, and perform inspections often, as well as engage in other tick- bite protocols.

Just past that trail is an old logging camp road which can be used by mountain bikes (they're prohibited on the trail).

North of Usal, the drive grows much more harrowing. The next 21.3 miles don't see road grader blades often. In early May, it was a maze of foot-and-a- half deep ruts, road-wide mudholes and downed trees. Again, a small SUV or 4WD would be preferred. And it's smart to travel in vehicle pairs, toting tow ropes and shovels.

Hybrid motorcycles (dual-sport, on-road/off-road ability) can transit handily. Neil Pankler and I completed the route on a pair of vintage BMW R100GS bikes with few problems. However, we did find it wise to probe the depth of mudholes with sticks before crossing!

Another tip: Way out here, smart driving is s-l-o-w driving. If you rush, then meet another yahoo charging the opposite way, your mingled wreckage will be marooned. You don't want to learn how much it costs to coax a tow truck to the Usal Road.

"That road shakes people up," says state park ranger Martin Urbach. "They leave pale as ghosts. They think it's a regular county route. It should be a gated jeep trail."

"Usal was our original stagecoach road," says Joe Wolf, a Humboldt County foreman for 39 years. He takes over maintenance when 431 crosses the county line. "Next, loggers drove it, but they didn't widen or straighten it a whole heck of a bunch.

"Used to be a lot more stuff going on out there," Wolf says. "My grandad had a saloon at Four Corners. He longshored timber schooners at Needle Rock by day, then ran his roadhouse at night."

Four Corners is a junction that offers respite at the north end of the rough stretch. A left turn takes you down 3.5 steep miles to Needle Rock House,

a pioneer cabin now used as a visitor center for adjacent state park lands and campgrounds. Another 2.5 miles south lies the northern trailhead of the Lost Coast path, with four walk-in camps in close proximity.

Back at Four Corners, you can continue northward on 431 another 4.3 miles over loose rock cobbles to find pavement again. Then, you soon come across two charming, forested Bureau of Land Management (BLM) campgrounds, called Wailaiki (13 drive-in sites) and Nadelos (9 walk-in sites). These camps provide trailheads for hiking west into Hidden Valley, then south to Needle Rock and the Sinkyone.

A shaded, bubbling stream nearby, Bear Creek, is a major salmon spawning tributary for the Mattole River. Tim Day, a local, has worked with a citizens' association called the Mattole Salmon Group for 20 years, seeking to enhance chinook salmon runs, and make up for habitat damage elsewhere in the drainage. His primary tool is a redwood spawning box donated by Pacific Lumber -- back in the halcyon days when that firm was locally owned.

"On Bear creek, you can go camping, watch wildlife, and sometimes see salmon spawn here as they have for thousands of years. That's the beauty of this place," Day said. "Landowners around here share a vision. We see ourselves as stewards, and we want to keep the salmon going."

Visitors disinclined to challenge the tough dirt roads can reach Wailaiki and Nadelos from the north by patiently driving the paved route from Redway toward Shelter Cove, making a left turn after 17.6 miles.

Naturally, this region holds many more discoveries.

For instance, if you continued west toward Shelter Cove, you'd pass a junction with the dirt King Mountain Road, which beckons you north to more camps and trailheads. Further along, you'd see a spur to Black Sands Beach, launch point for an epic trail which wanders north to the mouth of the Mattole.

But, again, don't rush into things. Pause at the RV Park in Shelter Cove to fuel yourself on the best fish-and-chips in the county.

----------- Lost Coast information

-- STATE PARK LANDS: The 7,400 acres of Sinkyone Wilderness State Park holds one primitive car camp, at Usal, and nine hike-in camps along the Lost Coast Trail. Fees: $7/night/two cars; hike or bike camps, $1/person/night; day-use, $2/car. First-come, first-served; no reservations. Self-register, make sure to display a stub on car dash; failure to do so may result in $64 fine. No dogs or mountain bikes on trails; even in camps dogs must stay leashed. Free filtered water available at Needle Rock only. Information: Send stamped, self-addressed envelope to State Parks, P.O. Box 245, Whitethorn, Calif., 95489. (707) 986-7711.

-- BLM LANDS: The federal Bureau of Land Management oversees 60,000 acres to the north of Sinkyone, laced with 80 miles of trail and dotted by campgrounds. Car camps near pavement are Wailaki and Nadelos, south of Shelter Cove Road. Going north on the dirt King Peak Road, Tolkan Camp (nine ridge-top sites) is at four miles, Horse Mountain (nine sites) is at seven miles; both camps are primitive, neither has water. In addition, a variety of trailside, hike-in camps is available, including a new one, Chinquapin, in Hidden Valley, just over Chemise Mountain from Nadelos. Fees range from $5-$8/night; some sites charge $1 for day-use. Information: Arcata Field Office, (707) 825-2300; King Range Office (located 13.2 miles west of Redway on the Shelter Cove Road),